


Hanging in There

by freethedoncastertwo



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff, Haru is... Haru, Humour, I am half-convinced that reigisa are the reason that fluff exists, M/M, Makoto is everybody's unofficial social worker, Rei being ridiculous is completely canon, Titanic references are made, because Nagisa is a sucker for romance movies, lil Nagisa is just trying to get by
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-13
Updated: 2015-10-13
Packaged: 2018-04-26 05:26:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4991980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freethedoncastertwo/pseuds/freethedoncastertwo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s 8:45am on a Monday morning and Rei is reading while jogging. Nagisa is beginning to wonder if there’s a support group somewhere for People Who Have Crushes on Nerds.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hanging in There

**Author's Note:**

> I only hopped on board the Free! train really recently, but wow. I love it. I lovelovelovelove it. I just finished the series and wanted to write a cutesy reigisa one-shot, because they are dorky little cherubs who deserve nice things in life. So here is that one-shot.

It’s 8:45am on a Monday morning and Rei is reading while jogging. Nagisa is beginning to wonder if there’s a support group somewhere for People Who Have Crushes on Nerds.

Seriously. When they get to school, there’s a banner on the main building that says  _CONGRATS SWIM TEAM!!!_  And as much as Nagisa appreciates being congratulated, an even better banner message would be  _HANG IN THERE, HAZUKI_. Because currently, Nagisa is hanging on by about three teeth and a toe.

It’s just that Rei’s – well, he’s  _Rei_. Rei can work out the perfect angles for high jump and adjust them to accommodate the wind, but up until recently he sunk attempting every swim stroke except butterfly. He came across as cold and uninterested when Nagisa first met him, but he has the keenest appreciation for beauty of anyone Nagisa knows. He can memorise a book in  _two hours_ , but he’s been friends with Nagisa for over  _a year_  now and he  _still_  hasn’t caught on to the fact that Nagisa is head-over-heels for him. He simultaneously makes perfect sense and no sense at all.

And Nagisa is a self-confessed simple creature. So between keeping up with studies, training for nationals and being in love with Rei, it’s all getting to be a little bit too much.

Nagisa’s not even sure what he  _wants_ , really. Well – he wants to win nationals, duh. He wants to swim with his friends. He wants to make sure things stay good with his parents, because that’s a new and pleasant feeling. But he doesn’t know what he wants from  _Rei_. Nagisa decided pretty early on that he didn’t want to actually try to  _date_ him, because that would involve confessions and messy feelings – and worst case scenario, it could send Rei running straight back to the track team. But it would be cool if Rei could catch on a little, just enough to stop taunting Nagisa with his gosh darn  _impressiveness_.

Nagisa’s so lost in thought that he bumps into the back of a tall person as he and Rei walk to class.

The tall person turns around. Nagisa giggles in relief when he realises it’s Makoto. “Haha! Sorry, Mako-chan! I didn’t see you there.”

“Hey, guys. That’s okay, Nagisa-kun.”

Rei pushes up his glasses. “Ah! Makoto-senpai! I’ve been reading up on a new theory about optimal breathing techniques to make the most of the lungs’ natural flotation ability...” Rei rambles on. He punctuates his speech here and there with knowing cackles.

Makoto just smiles and listens patiently, despite the serious improbability that he knows or cares what Rei’s talking about. Makoto was just born with the makings of a social worker, that way.

It suddenly occurs to Nagisa that he could ask Makoto for advice on this whole love situation. After all, everyone knows that Makoto’s in love with Haru. There’s actually a rumour going around the school that they’re  _engaged_  – and heck, Nagisa didn’t even start that one. (He did, however, unintentionally encourage it when he spliced together an audio clip of Makoto’s voice saying  _“draw me like one of your French girls, Haru_.” And then sent it to everyone. But HIS FINGERS SLIPPED. IT WAS ENTIRELY UNINTENTIONAL.)

Nagisa realises that Makoto and Rei are both staring at him.  _Huh._  He must have zoned out. Makoto’s eyebrows go up in concern. “Nagisa-kun? Are you okay? You seem a bit distracted.”

Nagisa rubs the back of his neck and laughs. “I’m fine, Mako-chan! I’m just a bit tired, I think. Studying is so draining!”

Makoto purses his lips. “You’re not having trouble with your parents again, are you?”

That was entirely the wrong thing to say (thanks Mako), because Rei promptly hollers in shock.

“ _EEHHHHHH?!_ ” Rei shrieks, so suddenly and loudly that Makoto jumps about four feet into the air. He shoves his face right up to Nagisa’s. “Nagisa-kun? Are you okay?! Did your parents cast you out to live a life on the streets? This is so tragic, so unbeautiful!”

By the time Makoto lands on the ground and his face re-enters Nagisa’s field of vision, he’s wearing a tolerant smile. What a trooper. “I’m sure Nagisa-kun’s not dealing with anything like that, Rei-chan. I was just checking. You know, careful old me.”

Nagisa grins. “Right, right! Things are great at home, actually. So there’s no need to worry.”

Rei’s not having any of it. He grips Nagisa’s shoulders, wailing for Nagisa to be strong. In his sweet, noble, concerned frenzy, he accidentally presses his thumbs hard against Nagisa’s throat. Nagisa can only gasp raggedly as Rei unintentionally strangles him.

And see, this is the kind of shit that Nagisa’s talking about.

The logical part of his brain  _knows_  that strangulation is a Bad Thing. But there’s this other, love-struck part of his brain that is singing with joy at the physical contact; that wants Rei’s hands to stay on him like this forever. So he doesn’t even struggle. In fact, he’s pretty sure he’s grinning.

Makoto waves his hands around, as if that’s going to help. His face is caught somewhere between alarm and that ridiculously tolerant smile. “Um, Rei-chan? I don’t think Nagisa can breathe.”

Rei looks at Makoto in confusion. He realises what he’s doing and releases Nagisa with a horrified gasp. “Nagisa-kun! I’m sorry; I don’t know what overcame me! Do you need a nurse? I’m going to take you to the nurse.”

He grasps Nagisa’s wrist in an iron grip and begins to pull him in the direction of the nurse’s office, despite Nagisa’s protests that, “for the millionth time already,  _I’m fine!_ ”

Nagisa casts one desperate glance back to Makoto. Makoto just smiles. Tolerantly. The jerk.

-

Nagisa would complain that he doesn’t know how this became his life, but that wouldn’t even be true. Nagisa is personally responsible for almost every circumstance in his life right now,  _including_ this one. And it sucks.

They’re sitting in the nurse’s office. Rei has calmed down from his frantic state and has now committed himself to staring dejectedly at the ground, apologising for being such a nuisance. It would be very amusing if Rei’s head wasn’t on Nagisa’s lap. Near Nagisa’s, well,  _Little Nagisa_.

The only thing that’s preventing Nagisa from having a very embarrassing reaction right now is the stick that the school nurse is poking down his throat.

“Fo’ the laghst time, ngeuhm not sick,” Nagisa says-slash-gags around the stick.

But Rei has decided that there is definitely something bothering Nagisa (thanks for that, Makoto,  _really_ ). And he’s determined to get to the bottom of it. On top of that, the school nurse is apparently so bored by her job that she’s taken to checking every student who comes into her office for every disease  _ever_. Nagisa feels sorry for her. But he also would very much like her to know that it’s not his problem.

Rei.  _Rei_  is his problem.

Rei mumbles something sad into Nagisa’s thigh, which sends vibrations up to his –  _no._ Nagisa refuses to think about that.

Thankfully, Nagisa is saved from certain humiliation when none other than Nanase Haruka walks through the door.

Nagisa spits the stick out of his mouth and cheers, “Haru-chan!”

The appearance of Haru is even enough to rouse Rei from his melancholy. “Haruka-senpai,” Rei greets him enthusiastically, sitting up (and giving Nagisa’s thighs some much-needed space).

Haru tilts his head at a slight angle that Nagisa has learned to interpret as  _friendly_. “Hey.” He looks at Nagisa. “Lay off the –chan.”

Nagisa laughs. “Why are ya here, Haru-chan?”

Haru coughs. “I’m sick.” Nagisa inspects him. He looks almost the same as usual, except that his art book is tucked under his arm. It adds to his whole Cute and Eligible Bachelor vibe, Nagisa thinks.

The nurse’s head darts up in excitement at the news of an actual sick child in her office. She looks a bit like a meerkat. She bustles over to Haru. “You’re  _sick_? I can treat you! Yes. Come along, sit down here. Now, what are your symptoms? How long have you been having them for?”

Haru lets her lead him into a chair. As he’s sitting down, a picture comes loose in his art book and nearly falls out. Nagisa peers over at the half-hanging-out sheet of paper. It’s a detailed pencil drawing of Makoto with his arms over his head and –  _holy shit really???????_

Haru notices the piece of paper and smoothly tucks it back into the book.

Nagisa looks at Rei urgently to see if Rei saw it. But Rei’s still got his head in Nagisa’s lap, and the love-struck part of Nagisa really wants him to stay there. Life’s rough.

-

By Thursday, Rei is even more convinced that there is something wrong with Nagisa. And when Rei becomes convinced of something, he convinces everyone else. It’s become a bit of a campaign. Random kids keep coming up to Nagisa in the hallway, telling him to  _stay strong._ Teachers have been clapping him heartily on the back. One girl even cried on his shoulder. Nagisa is so  _tired of it_  that he actually burst into tears in homeroom this morning, which didn’t do much to help his case.

He’s seriously considering changing the  _CONGRATS SWIM TEAM!!!_  banners to say,  _NAGISA IS FINE, THANKS. PLEASE CARRY ON WITH YOUR LIVES._ Rei’s even got Makoto and Gou sucked into the concern party. Gou keeps complimenting his shoulder muscles. Makoto is about one pep-talk away from literally applying to be Nagisa’s social worker.

The only person who’s still treating Nagisa normally is Haru. Nagisa thanks the swimming deities for Haru.

Nagisa spends recess with Haru, i.e. by the pool. Haru is currently slinking around, pretending to be a dolphin. He keeps coughing with his mouth underwater, making the water bubble each time it happens. It’s kind of cute. It’s also probably unhealthy, but Nagisa doesn’t want to break their current unspoken agreement of not-being-annoyingly-concerned-about-each-other. So he lies back on the concrete by the side of the pool, soaking in the sun and tranquillity.

“Nagisa-kun! There you are!”

_Nope._

Nagisa’s brain registers Rei’s voice. His body reacts by rolling straight into the pool. He nearly lands on top of Haru, who squeaks in surprise.

“Nagisa-kun?!” Rei cries out, and then he’s rushing over. “Are you okay?”

Nagisa really doesn’t want to see Rei right now, so he swims to the other end of the pool. Rei can run faster than he can swim, though. When Nagisa reaches the end, he is faced with dishevelled blue hair, a frowning face and very, very concerned violet eyes. Rei purses his lips. “Nagisa-kun.”

Nagisa sighs. “Yeah?”

“Why did you fall into the pool? You’re still in your school uniform.”

 _Huh._  Nagisa looks down at himself. “Oops.”

Rei peers at him like he’s an unexpectedly difficult puzzle. “I’m having trouble figuring out what’s wrong, here.”

Nagisa laughs a bit manically. “That’s because there’s  _nothing wrong_ , Rei-chan! I keep telling you, I’m  _fine_.”

Haru pops up beside Nagisa, scaring the crap out of them like the sneaky prodigy he is. “I agree that you’re not acting like yourself, actually.”

Nagisa stares at him. “No, not  _you too?_  Come on, Haru-chan!” He head-butts Haru pleadingly.

Haru doesn’t give in. He’s said his piece, and that’s that. Nagisa huffs and pulls himself out of the water, refusing a hand from Rei. He storms off towards the change-rooms – where, thankfully, he’s got some spare clothes in his locker.

Rei comes in while Nagisa is slipping on his shirt. He opens his mouth to speak, but Nagisa butts in. “There’s nothing bothering me.”

Rei sighs. “I’m sorry if I’m coming on too strongly, Nagisa-kun. I just don’t buy that.”

Nagisa says nothing, instead choosing to primly fold up his towel. Rei still hovers around him, the stupid sweet jerk.

Eventually Rei says, “Is something going on with your family?” He’s met with silence. “Is it your grades?” No answer. “Are you nervous about nationals?” Nothing. “Are you upset because of me?”

Nagisa flinches. Rei’s eyes widen. “Is it because I cancelled that study session last Saturday? Is it because of that time I forgot that you don’t like pickles?” he pauses. Nagisa says nothing. “Is it because I’m the slowest swimmer on the team?”

Nagisa huffs. “ _No_ , Rei-chan! Obviously not. I promise it’s none of those things. Just – just drop the subject, okay? It’s not a big deal.”

Rei frowns. “I won’t drop the subject. I want to know why you’re upset. Is it because –”

Nagisa can’t take anymore more of this. He spins around to face Rei, cutting him off. “It’s because  _I’m in love with you!_ ”

Rei’s mouth falls open.

He stares at Nagisa for a moment, during which time Nagisa’s stomach submits a formal application to transfer to Antarctica and tries to eject itself through his mouth so it can get there.

Then Rei smiles. His smile turns into a cackle, which turns into a cheer. “Really? But, Nagisa-kun, that’s  _brilliant!_ ”

Nagisa blinks. “Pardon?” Is Rei serious? Has Nagisa been oblivious all this time? Is it possible that Rei likes him too?

“Brilliant!” Rei chirps. He pushes his glasses up his nose. “Nagisa-kun, it’s your lucky day. Feelings of  _love_ happen to release powerful chemicals in the brain, which can be harnessed to enhance athletic performance!” Nagisa’s heart sinks. Rei continues, “Why, I’m betting that if we test your speed right now, we’d see tremendous –”

“Rei-chan,  _stop!_ ” Nagisa feels a bit like his head is underwater. It’s hard to breathe. “You can’t – my feelings aren’t some  _mechanism_ to be  _taken advantage of_. If you don’t feel the same, that’s fine, I figured that, but  _pleasedon’tbesocold_.”

Rei just blinks at him in confusion. Nagisa turns on his heel and runs.

-

Nagisa doesn’t stop running until he reaches Samezuka Academy.

Actually, that’s a blatant lie. Nagisa can’t run for that long. He stops running when he reaches the train station. Which is probably a bad call, because he and Rei go to the  _SAME TRAIN STATION_. Nagisa thumps his head ever-so-gently against the nearest pole.

Rei catches up to Nagisa in fifteen seconds – which is really kind of him, actually, because he could have overtaken Nagisa if he’d wanted to. “Nagisa-kun!”

Nagisa is too worn-out to move in normal human ways at this point, so he makes like a penguin and begins to waddle away.

Rei steps smoothly in front of him. He’s frowning in, you guessed it,  _concern_. “Nagisa-kun? Is your body in a spasm?”

Nagisa has had Enough with a capital  _E_. “I was  _being a penguin!_ ” he shouts. Two elderly women peer over at him from the shelter. He hangs his head in shame.

“I... see.” Rei takes Nagisa’s sad, non-penguin hands in his own. “Nagisa-kun? Will you please look at me?”

It’s not a demand. It’s a request. Nagisa can refuse if he wants to. But slowly, Nagisa peeks up at Rei.

Rei pushes his glasses up his nose. “Nagisa-kun, it has become apparent to me that I owe you an apology. I am sincerely sorry if I was not entirely clear earlier. That is to say that I – well – I do reciprocate your feelings of love.”

Nagisa’s not completely sure that he understands. “You do...?”

“I am sorry that I didn’t say so immediately – I realise now that I was not following proper confession etiquette. But you see, I just thought that my feelings were a given.”

“A given...” Nagisa needs to sit down, pronto.

“Obvious. A constant. Accounted for." Rei's eyes are so, so genuine. His voice is soft but clear. "When it comes to you, Nagisa-kun, I’m a fixed variable.”

Nagisa sinks to his knees right there on the concrete. He’s vaguely aware that his shoulders are shaking.

“ _Nagisa-kun?!_ ” Rei instantly freaks out. “What should I do? Are you crying? Please don’t be crying.”

Nagisa throws his head back in wild laughter.

Rei pauses in mid-panic. “Nagisa-kun?”

Nagisa can’t help it. It’s just too much.  He holds his belly; his entire body wracking with laughs. “Rei-chan, you’re such a  _dork!_ ”

For a moment Rei simply stares at him. Then he starts laughing too. It’s that awfully obnoxious evil-genius laugh that he lets loose when he thinks he’s said something particularly clever. Together they must look and sound like a couple of hooligans – Nagisa guffawing on his back with his little legs kicking, and Rei with his hands on his hips and his cackles being thrown to the sky.

The elderly ladies stand up and move to a shelter at the other end of the station.

After a full five minutes of laughter, Nagisa stands up. He grabs Rei’s face and brings it down to meet his lips.

It’s barely a proper kiss – well, it becomes a proper kiss when Rei turns his head to meet Nagisa’s lips with his own. But it’s messy and floundering and all sorts of clueless. Nagisa pulls away and smiles breathlessly up at Rei. “Rei-chan?”

“Yeah?” Rei sounds just as breathless.

“Repeat after me:  _making sure that Nagisa-kun is aware of my feelings is more important than harnessing brain chemicals to enhance performance_.  _Or whatever_.”

Rei blushes. “Making sure that Nagisa-kun is aware of my feelings is more important than harnessing brain chemicals to enhance performance. Or whatever.” He smiles sheepishly. “Do I pass?”

Nagisa gives him a well-deserved head-butt. “Yes, you dork, you pass.”

Rei pushes his glasses up his nose, and it looks a little bit like a victory march. He's grinning now. “As to be expected. But Nagisa-kun?”

“Yeah?”

“Please repeat after me, if you would be so kind:  _running away from Rei-chan doesn’t solve communication problems_.”

Nagisa rolls his eyes. “Running away from Rei-chan doesn’t... solve communication problems.”

“And it’s also futile, given Rei’s  _track record_.”

“Rei-chan!” Rei laughs. Nagisa is appalled. “You’re going to have to come up with better puns than  _that_ if you want to impress me when we’re dating. I-I mean...” Nagisa steps back, wondering if he’s gone too far.

Rei catches his hand. He smiles softly. “I’d better start studying for it, then.”

Nagisa gapes at him. “Y-you mean...? You’ll date me?”

Rei bends down and head-butts Nagisa in the chest. He darts back before Nagisa can catch him. He beams, and it’s like sunlight breathing life into a deep, dark ocean. “Only if you date me too.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'ms soerydorky endingss I'm SORRYRY  
> *cough*I'mreallynot*cough*
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this! And I hope you know that if you have fluffy reigisa fic-recs it is your civil duty to inform me of them |D  
> ...Joking. (But please do!)


End file.
